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A new book about Jersey’s 800-year-old parish justice system shows the Island is leading the way on restorative justice.
The book titled "Reintegrative Justice in Jersey – the Informal Management of Crime in an Island Community", proves how the Island’s parish system works in resolving conflicts and influencing offenders.
It is a unique study about the Island’s honorary police and parish hall system and is co-authored by Jersey Police’s Director of Criminal Justice, Dr Helen Miles, and Professor Peter Raynor of Swansea University.
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Fixed Penalty Notices and Referral Orders have been introduced in the UK because of the absence there of traditional community-based systems of justice. There are now calls to look at restorative justice, community justice and alternatives to these formal criminal justice processes.
Jersey’s parish system is an ancient institution that has survived for more than 800 years and is still in regular use as an integral part of the Island’s modern criminal justice system.
The States of Jersey Police say that restorative outcomes resolve problems within the community, not the justice system, and do so without having to create complex and expensive structures and systems. They say that the book demonstrates how people can deal with community problems at parish level, contributing to community safety, better behaviour and more useful alternatives to criminal convictions.
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